Vergil

"Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness. Might controls everything - and without strength, you cannot protect anything; let alone yourself."

- Vergil to Dante (DMC3)

Vergil was the eldest of the twin sons of Sparda and Eva, and is the main antagonist of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and the special edition version. Unlike Dante, his younger brother, he embraces his demonic heritage, while despising his human one. His personality is the polar opposite of Dante's. He has a lust for power and is willing to disregard anything to obtain the power of his father, Sparda.

After being killed and having his soul placed in a demonic body by Mundus, he later becomes the being encountered in Devil May Cry known as Nelo Angelo. He is first encountered in Mission 4: Black Knight, and again in Mission 11: Fate and for the last time in Mission 17: Parted Memento, where he is killed by Dante.

Vergil will return in the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 4, ten years since Devil May Cry 3's release.

Appearance
For the most part, Vergil looks identical to Dante in hair and facial features. However, Vergil usually has his hair swept back instead of brushed down like Dante's, presumably to resemble his father and to distinguish himself from his twin brother. Before being transformed into Nelo Angelo, Vergil wore a blue long coat with three tails and a snake like pattern on the right side of the jacket.

As Nelo Angelo, he wore heavy armor that pulsed colors according to his vitality. The armor included a humanoid helmet with horns protruding from the forehead and a cape. In his final confrontation against Dante, he removed his helmet to reveal a sickly white skin tone with blue veins and red eyes, with his hair still swept back. Nelo Angelo's armor gained a slight redesign in Devil May Cry 3 which did pulse, but not according to Nelo Angelo's vitality.

Personality
Vergil's personality is almost the complete opposite of Dante's personality. Even though they are twin brothers, Vergil is calm, cool, and collected. He is quiet and prefers swords over guns, since he considers firearms unworthy of a "true warrior". However, his silence is not due to a lack of self-confidence; it is because he never shows fear for anything. Interestingly, despite his cold persona and ruthlessness he is a warrior who follows a strict combat discipline; he refuses to use firearms as he sees them as crude weapons, he despises fighting dirty and (as Nelo Angelo) he refuses to attack his opponents from behind. Vergil also has no tolerance for failure or insubordination from those under his command; he immediately slays the Hell Vanguard that failed to retrieve Dante's amulet, and stabs Arkham when he believed that the latter´s human side resurfaced by not killing Lady when commanded to, and thus was no longer needed. It would appear that Dante and Vergil were close at one time during their childhood. After their fight against Arkham in Devil May Cry 3, Dante and Vergil finish him off, with both of them firing one of Dante's guns, simultaneously saying a catchphrase, "Jackpot", after Dante asks his brother, "Remember what we used to say?"

This bond between them, however, is not entirely gone. It is believed that during their last battle, Vergil refused to be saved by Dante so as not to acquire his father's power for himself, but to actually save Dante and not allow him to be trapped in the Demon World. This shows that despite their rivalry and mutual dislike for one another, Vergil in the end truly does care for Dante, but does not show it since he considers this emotion to be human and weak.

Unlike Dante, Vergil is willing to embrace his demonic heritage, and seeks to emulate his father's power and cold persona. While Dante seeks to protect humanity from the demons, Vergil wants more demonic power, regardless of the consequences to those around him. Despite his normal personality of cold dismissal, he does cherish two things - the Devil-blade Yamato, a dark O-Katana left to him as a keepsake by his father, and his own half of the Perfect Amulet, a keepsake from his mother. In Devil May Cry 3, Vergil seems to reveal some of his feelings by claiming to Dante: "Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself.". This may be a reference to their mother's death. It may also imply that Vergil seeks power as compensation for failing to protect her. His failure may also have made him forsake close human relationships. As Nelo Angelo, Vergil lacks speech (Though in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition in his Nelo Angelo costume, one of his taunts has him say "Come on" in a dark and menacing voice). He is also pained when forced to remember Dante and their family. An example would be when he glimpses Dante's half of the Perfect Amulet, seemingly indicating that he is possessed by Mundus to some degree.

Gameplay
In Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, players may play on a separate file as Vergil. Vergil's scenario has a new prologue, but all other cutscenes were removed. Also, while the Vergil boss fights are still fought, the boss wears red instead of blue to give the impression that Dante is being fought. The boss is sometimes named "Vante" by the fans to resolve the confusion.

Vergil possesses his Devil Trigger and all three of his Devil Arms (Yamato, Beowulf, and Force Edge) from the beginning of his scenario. His signature Dark Slayer Style behaves somewhat like an upgraded Trickster Style, allowing to quickly move on the battlefield and ambush enemies. It must also be leveled in order to allow purchase of higher level actions for Vergil's weapons. Vergil also cannot obtain as many actions per weapon as Dante can, and uses his Summoned Swords instead of firearms.

Vergil's Yamato is a faster weapon than Dante's Rebellion, but has weaker power and range. Yamato can be compared to Agni & Rudra in its role, although it has completely different moveset. Vergil's Beowulf cannot charge attacks like Dante's, but overall is more powerful. Vergil can also use Yamato and Force Edge together, and his actions with the pair of swords resembles Dante with the Rebellion. Finally, while firing his Summoned Swords cannot propel Vergil like Ebony & Ivory can propel Dante, they can still juggle enemies, can be used without interrupting other actions, and can be used both to guard himself or to surround the enemy.

In the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 4, Vergil will retain his moves from the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 3, but also added with elements from the reboot of the franchise DmC: Devil May Cry. It is known that his moves are also fully upgradable. And a feature has been added for his choice of stylized fighting, which is known as the "Concentration" mechanic. While in action, Vergil's abilities and moves will grow stronger and faster the more calmly and flawlessly he fights.

The Concentration mechanic is signaled by a blue gauge in the upper left corner of the screen which is Vergil‘s Concentration Gauge. It has three levels. The higher the level, the more powerful attacks he will be able to perform. To increase the gauge, Vergil will have to land attacks on enemies and by dodging their attacks, but if he is hit by an enemy or if he runs, these will cause the gauge to deplete. Missing attacks will also deplete the gauge, so the player will have to be efficient with their attacks during battle.

Instead of Dante's "Legendary Dark Knight Dante" and "Super Legendary Dark Knight Dante" costumes which allow him to assume Sparda Devil Trigger, Vergil possesses the "Corrupt Vergil" and "Super Corrupt Vergil" costumes which allow him to assume his Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger. While in human form in either incarnation, his appearance is similar to Dante's "Legendary Dark Knight Dante" look, except without the monocle, and has evil red eyes, a pale complexion, a darker purple coat with yellow borders, and highly noticeable dark veins in his face.

As Nelo Angelo, Vergil becomes noticeably stronger than Dante would in his Devil Trigger and his entire moveset changes to that of that one he possessed in the first game. His armor and zweihander serve as his weapons and both inflict dark elemental damage. He attacks with slow but strong sword slashes, punches and kicks that generate an azure-colored flame. He can also charge up to fire explosive azure blasts of energy with either weapon. Nelo Angelo still retains his Air Trick, but comes in the form of vanishing in a blaze of azure flame instead of a blur. While the powerful armor gives him higher resistance to flinching, he is noticeably slower than his original devil form.

Viewtiful Joe
Vergil's attire is a costume for Stylish Alastor in Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble.

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS
Vergil is a character card in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter DS.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
In Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Vergil is the fourth alternate color costume for the famous Capcom and Resident Evil villain, Albert Wesker.

Vergil appears as a playable character in the updated version of the game, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, having been leaked before his vignette was shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2011. As before, he still wields all of his weapons from Devil May Cry 3 which include the Yamato, Beowulf and Force Edge, while still using their attacks in the same manner. While not as combo savvy as Dante, his Yamato gives him excellent range in his normals and his Trick maneuvers can either be used independently or used right after several specials, giving him excellent mindgames.

Unlike most characters, Vergil has four Hypers, one being the desperation version of his Judgment Cut called "Dimension Slash" from the final battle, another where he brings about his Spiral Swords to augment his attacks and use them in the same manner he did in Devil May Cry 3, using the familiar arrow formation and the boss-only orbiting formation, both which use up the gauge.

Another of his activates his Devil Trigger and his fourth, a Level 3 Hyper called "Dark Angel" only available in DT where he slashes the opponent, summoning swords behind his opponent with each strike and then rains them down on his opponent when finished. This Hyper is one of the most damaging Hypers in UMVC3.

Vergil's theme is a remix of his boss battle theme from Mission 13. His alternate colors consist of a black swap based on a concept render, a blue and red one based on Nero, a white based on Kyosuke from the Capcom fighting game, Rival Schools, a red one for his "Vante" version and a vibrant blue and red one based on Dimitri from Darkstalkers, another Capcom fighting game. His DLC outfit is Corrupt Vergil (although the appearance of his Devil Trigger Hyper is that of Sparda as opposed to Nelo Angelo, the developer citing problems integrating the appearance of Nelo's weapons with Vergil's moveset).

In the CG opening, he is seen fighting against Wolverine. In his ending, he subdues Wolverine and obtains the Muramasa Blade to negate his healing factor. Unfortunately, Vergil becomes addicted to the sword's blood-drinking nature and Devil Triggers, seeking out more blood for the sword to feast on.

Sengoku Basara
Vergil is a DLC costume for Ishida Mitsunari in Sengoku Basara 4 alongside Dante as Date

Trivia

 * His name comes from Publius Vergilius Maro, who was a classical Roman poet. Dante Alighieri made Virgil his guide through Hell and Purgatory in his Divine Comedy.
 * It has been allegedly confirmed that Nero is his illegitimate son, though there is no canon information to confirm this beyond all doubt.
 * Vergil's fighting style, weapons, and element somehow resembles Mitsunari Ishida from Sengoku Basara 3.
 * Hideki Kamiya confirmed that Gilver and Nelo Angelo were indeed the same guy.
 * In the DMC1 novel(non canon at this time) Vergil (posing as Gilver) used a shotgun to critically wound Dante during their battle, so his suppose distaste for guns only appears late in canon.
 * Gilver is an anagram of Vergil
 * Nelo Angelo's name is a misspelling of "Nero Angelo" (lit. "Black Angel" in Italian). This misspelling has been maintained throughout the series along with Berial in DMC4, both due to the interchangeability of L & R's during translation of the Japanese language (as their language lacks an L, its not always clear which is implied).
 * Nelo Angelo's battle theme, Ultra Violet, bears similarities to Sparda's game-play music. The composer stated this was done to provide hints that Nelo Angelo bears the blood of Sparda. Interestingly, Dante's theme in Project X Zone is a remix of "Ultra Violet."
 * Although Corrupt Vergil appears as a DLC outfit in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, his Nelo Angelo form was excluded due to technical difficulties implementing the model with Vergil's playstyle. Instead, he is given Sparda's DT and due to his use of the Yamato, he bears a resemblance to the DMC1 version of Sparda where the Yamato was first introduced in the Legendary Dark Knight costume.
 * Vergil's Level 3 Hyper Combo in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a reference to Nelo Angelo as it is named Dark Angel.